Abstract
Background and aims: Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) are still a focus of research because of their role in the transmission of diseases and annoying biting behavior. Source reduction is an effective measure to control mosquito populations, which is based on good knowledge of larval habitats. This study was conducted to obtain that basic knowledge in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province. Methods: This study was carried out in 2011 and 2012. Geographical coordinates, altitude, pH, temperature, and the dissolved oxygen level of larval habitats were recorded by relevant devices, followed by documenting physical attributes by direct observation. In addition, the indices of biodiversity were calculated to analyze the vertical biodiversity of species. Finally, the affinity index was calculated to elucidate species co-occurrence. Results: Eighteen species were recovered from 92 larval habitats. Low- (≤ 1400 m), mid- (1401–2000 m), and high- (≥ 2001 m) altitudes lodged 7, 17, and 14 species, respectively. Further, the indices of the species richness and biodiversity for these altitudinal categories were 0.93, 1.94, and 1.58, as well as 1.54, 2.13, and 1.96, respectively. Larval habitats were mostly natural, temporary, with standing but clear water, muddy substrate, sunlit, and with vegetation. Other physicochemical characteristics and affinity of species were described and discussed as well. Conclusion: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of vertical distribution and biodiversity of mosquito larvae in Iran. The relative uniformity of physicochemical characteristics of larval habitats was attributed to prevailing water resources in the studied area and sampling design. The oviposition site selection of gravid mosquitoes is still an unresolved problem which needs further investigations.
Highlights
Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) are of major importance because of their role in the transmission of the causal agents of many diseases and because of their blood-sucking behavior which imposes considerable amounts of stress and discomfort to human beings and domesticated livestock.[1,2] lots of resources are spent yearly to combat these annoying insects, even in the absence of any diseases they transmit.Source reduction through environmental management is an effective supplementary tool in controlling mosquitoes operating at their potential larval habitats
This study described the selective aspects of the larval habitats of mosquitoes in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province, including vertical biodiversity and distribution, species occurrence, species affinity, and the physicochemical characteristics of the larval habitats of 18 recovered mosquito species
To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to describe the selective aspects of the ecology of the larvae of mosquitoes in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province and to present species occurrence, species affinity, and physicochemical characteristics of the larval habitats of 18 recovered mosquito species
Summary
Source reduction through environmental management is an effective supplementary tool in controlling mosquitoes operating at their potential larval habitats. The advantage of this method is that it affects endophagic and endophilic mosquitoes and exophagic and exophilic populations that are harder to be eliminated by other control measures. Source reduction is an effective measure to control mosquito populations, which is based on good knowledge of larval habitats. The indices of the species richness and biodiversity for these altitudinal categories were 0.93, 1.94, and 1.58, as well as 1.54, 2.13, and 1.96, respectively. The relative uniformity of physicochemical characteristics of larval habitats was attributed to prevailing water resources in the studied area and sampling design.
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